World Cup 2018: 4 things Spain must do to recover following their exit

#2 Phase out Veterans

David Silva and Sergio Ramos

Between 1980 and 1988, the following players were born in Spain: Iker Casillas, Gerard Pique, Andres Iniesta, David Villa, Xavi, Fernando Torres, Cesc Fabregas, Xabi Alonso, Sergio Ramos, David Silva, Juan Mata and Sergio Busquets. Yikes- now that is a Golden Generation. It is little wonder that Spain had so much international success between 2008 and 2012 (when most of those players were in their prime).

Over the past four years, four of those players have retired from international football (Iniesta announced his retirement after the Russia game). An additional four players have been jettisoned permanently by La Roja’s managers. However, four of those remain as options for future tournaments: Pique, Ramos, Silva and Busquets. All four were brilliant over the past season over their clubs and remain among the best in their positions.

However, it is time for Spain to start thinking about the role of their veterans. They have already been too slow in removing certain veterans: Xavi should not have played in 2014 and Iniesta was not good enough to start in Russia (as he did in the group stage). Their first job should be replacing Silva- he is still an excellent player but will be 34 for the 2020 Euros.

The other three veterans (Busquets, Pique and Ramos) are too good to jettison at this point but they need to start experimenting with replacements in qualifying. Otherwise, a repeat of this performance may occur in 2020.